June 9, 2010

When the Governor issued his Executive Order in December 2008 mandating unpaid furloughs for state employees, PECG immediately filed a lawsuit in the Sacramento Superior Court. Several other Unions subsequently filed challenges in Sacramento or Bay Area courts.
 
The initial ruling by the Superior Court upheld the Governor’s furlough order. PECG took the case to the Court of Appeal, which reviews Superior Court rulings.
 
Legal briefs or written arguments were filed by all parties. The Court asked additional questions which PECG and others responded to. Meanwhile, PECG supported a motion by the Governor’s office asking the State Supreme Court to take jurisdiction of the matter, along with several other lawsuits subsequently filed on the same subject. On April 22, the Supreme Court declined the request.
 
Then, on June 9, while PECG was awaiting a date for oral argument before the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court changed its mind. It took jurisdiction of the PECG lawsuit as well as two other furlough challenges, and announced it would review the matter and issue a ruling. It also asked the parties to respond to questions regarding the Government Code section dealing with reduced work time and the employee compensation item in the 2008-09 fiscal year State Budget.
 
PECG and the other parties will respond in writing by June 23 and can reply to the filings of others by June 30. After that, the Supreme Court will schedule a date for oral argument, after which it will rule on the matter.
 
This is a positive step to expedite the processing of this legal challenge. PECG previously requested the Supreme Court to take jurisdiction because it would expedite the appeal process by at least a year and would eliminate the confusion of conflicting Court of Appeal rulings which ultimately have to be resolved by the State Supreme Court anyway. PECG is the lead case and we look forward to arguing the issues before the Supreme Court.

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Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal has set June 21 as the hearing date on the issue regarding
whether the State Controller may issue full paychecks, or must limit them to the minimum wage, if the Legislature is late with a Budget again this summer. The issue would be whether the July payroll must be paid in full or if paychecks (except for minimum wage) would be delayed until after the Legislature adopts a budget for the fiscal year beginning in July. The Governor raised the challenge and PECG has joined with the Controller in arguing that all employees must receive full paychecks on time. Meanwhile, PECG is sponsoring legislation to provide a continuous appropriation for on time paychecks for PECG members and other state employees, regardless of the timing of the passage of the Budget. Both bills are awaiting action in the State Senate.